Water regulating valve

ABSTRACT

An upper valve portion arrangement used for regulating water flow, in which a threaded valve rod is located within the body of the valve and maintains two chambers spaced from each other. The chambers communicate through a duct in the form of a notch or bore in the threaded portion of the valve rod. Two O-rings are provided with one O-ring within the valve body about a cylindrically shaped guide portion of a tapered sleeve located within the interior of the valve body. This O-ring serves to seal off the threaded portion of the valve rod, from the water passing through the valve.

States Primary ExaminerM. Cary Nelson Assistant ExaminerR. B. RothmanAtt0rneyMichael S. Striker ABSTRACT: An upper valve portion arrangementused for regulating water flow, in which a threaded valve rod is locatedwithin the body of the valve and maintains two chambers spaced from eachother. The chambers communicate through a duct in the form of a notch orbore in the threaded portion of the valve rod. Two O-rings are providedwith one O-ring within the valve body about a cylindrically shaped guideportion ofa tapered sleeve located within the interior of the valvebody. This O-ring serves to seal off the threaded portion of the valverod, from the water passing through the valve WATER REGULATING VALVEBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to animprovement in the upper portions of valves in which a tapered sleevemoves up and down on a valve rod. The valve design of the presentinvention is particularly applicable to washrooms, and the presentinvention resides in the feature of increasing the operating life of theupper portion of such valves.

For the purpose of decreasing the wear on the valve rod threadedportion, it is known in the art to arrange below the valve rod thread,the O-sealing ring which is required for sealing with respect to theexterior. Through such sealing with respect to the exterior, the valverod thread is secured against the application of water thereto. Theoperating life of the upper portion of the valve depends upon the degreeof wear of the valve rod thread.

All of the designs known in the art are based on the logical approachthat below the edge guide of the tapered sleeve, a cylindrical member isarranged in a corresponding further bore member of the body and guidedtherein. The sealing O- ring is arranged in or on this cylindricalmember. Whereas with such design, the access of water thereto isprevented, the dry operation of the valve rod thread is, however, notprevented. This is due to the condition that the lubricating medium ispressed into the outer lying guide edge where it is, of course, uselessfor purposes of lubricating the valve rod.

The present invention avoids this undesired situation by providing thatthe upper portion of the tapered sleeve is in the form of a cylindricalguide member within which a body bore prevails of identical diameter. Afurther O-sealing ring is arranged with the body bore. This design isused in conjunction with the retention of the upper O-sealing ring lyingbelow the abutting collar of the valve rod. The further O-sealing ringconnects with the lower portion of the tapered sleeve carried by theedge guide. With this design, closed-off spaces are created above andbelow the valve rod threaded portion. At the same time, these confinedspaces are advantageously made to communicate with each other through anaxial notch in the threaded portion itself. With this arrangement, thedesired feature is achieved that prior to assembling the valvearrangement, the lubricating medium is introduced into the hollowportion of the tapered sleeve. When the tapered sleeve is then turned upand down, the lubricating medium is pressed alternatingly into the upperand lower chambers or spaces, past the threaded portion. As a result,continuous lubrication is realized, and dry operation of the threadedportion for any length of time is avoided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An arrangement for valves used to regulatefluid flow particularly in washrooms. A valve body contains a valve rodwhich has a threaded portion lying between upper and lower chambersconfined within the valve body. A notch in the threaded portion servesas a duct by which the two spaced chambers may communicate. A bore maybe used in place of the duct. One O-ring is located on the valve rod,and a tapered sleeve is further provided with a cylindrically shapedguide portion within the interior of the valve body. A second O-ringwithin the valve body and engaging the cylindrically shaped guideportion is used to seal off the threaded portion from being acceptableto the fluid or water fiow being regulated by the valve.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a sectional view through thelongitudinal axis of the valve and shows the valve in open position, inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken from below of the threaded portion of thevalve rod; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken through the longitudinal axis of thevalve and shows the latter in closed position, in accordance with thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawing, FIG.1 shows an advantageous embodiment of the upper portion of the presentinvention in a vertical section. The upper portion member is denoted by1, whereas the valve rod is 2, and the tapered sleeve 3 moves up anddown with the threaded'valve rod member 4. The sealing disc 5 is securedto the tapered sleeve through the roundhead screw 15. The valve seat isrepresented by the numeral 6. The valve rod which is inserted into thevalve body carries a shoulder 7 which, in turn, carries the O-ring 8.The valve rod is inserted into the valve body from below, and is locatedwithin the valve body by abutting thereinto. The exterior of the O- ring8, serves to seal the valve body bore. The upper portion of the taperedsleeve is in the form of a round guide portion or guide member 10 withinthe valve body, and cooperates with the second O-ring 17. The lowerportion carries the edge guide 11, with which the tapered sleeve issecured against rotation. The axial notch 12 is cut or arranged on thethreaded valve rod 4. Through this notch 12, the space 13 confined bythe upper portion of the threaded valve rod communicates with the space14 lying below.

The advance in the art through the present invention resides in thefollowing advantages: From the outside, the valve rod is protected, asin the past, through two O-ring fields against water which may seepthrough. While, on the one hand, the valve rod is secured against thetransmission of water, continuous lubrication of the valve rod is, onthe other hand, achieved. As a result of such lubrication, the danger ofdry operation of the valve is avoided, and the operating life of theupper portion is substantially increased.

In contrast with the upper portion provided on the valve rod shoulderwith two O-ring fields, a deterioration of loss in the sealing feature,or increase in the structural height is not incurred. This results fromthe condition that a savings in the structural height is realized, asdesired, through omission of the second lower O-ring on the valve rod.This desired savings in structural height is made available for theadditional sliding guide portion with an O-ring seal at the taperedsleeve. The sliding guide portion becomes further improved through thepulling apart of the O-rings 8 and 17. A turning torque on the valverod, moreover, is substantially eliminated. In addition, the guide borefor the valve rod shoulder or collar and the sliding guide member of thetapered sleeve may be enlarged, without enlarging the body diameter ofthe upper portion of the valve. In this manner, the specific bearingpressure of the valve rod collar against the body is reduced, andconsequently the amount of wear is reduced correspondingly. Finally, byincreasing the length of the valve rod by approximately 50 percent, theload of the threaded portion is reduced by 20 percent, and this has afurther effect on increasing the operating life of the upper portion.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied invalves, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, sincevarious modifications and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims.

1. In a valve arrangement for regulating fluid flow, a combinationcomprising a valve housing body formed with an axially extending steppedcylindrical bore having an upper portion of a diameter smaller than thelower portion thereof; valve rod means mounted in said bore turnableabout the axis thereof and immovable in axial direction, said valve rodmeans having an upper portion of a diameter smaller than that of saidupper bore portion and a lower portion provided with an outer screwthread; sleeve means axially slidably arranged in said bore and having alower closed end and an inner screw thread threadingly engaged with saidouter screw thread of said valve rod means, said sleeve means having anupper cylindrical guide portion guided in said upper bore portion, alower substantially cylindrical portion of a greater diameter than saidupper cylindrical portion-of said sleeve means and located in said lowerbore portion, and an upwardly tapering intermediate portion integralwith said upper and lower portions, said upper portion of said valve rodmeans and said valve housing body defining a first chamber above saidsleeve means and the latter defining between its closed end and thelower portion of said valve rod means a second chamber, each of whichbeing adapted to be filled with lubricating means; passage meansproviding communication between said chambers; a first O-ring in saidupper bore portion about said upper portion of said valve rod means; anda second O-ring in said upper bore portion and sealingly engaging saidupper cylindrical guide portion of said sleeve means.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said passage meanscomprises an axially extending notch in said threaded portion of saidguide rod means.

3. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said upper portion ofsaid guide rod means is provided with a pair of axially spaced radiallyextending shoulders engaging the inner surface of said bore, said firstO-ring being located between said shoulders 4. A combination as definedin claim 3, wherein the portion of said bore engaged by said shouldersand the portion thereof engaged by said upper cylindrical guide portionof said sleeve means have the same diameter.

5. A combination as defined in claim 1, and including a sealing discmounted on the lower closed end of said sleeve means, and a valve seataxially aligned with said disc, so that the disc may engage or be spacedfrom said seat during axial movement of said sleeve means.

1. In a valve arrangement for regulating fluid flow, a combinationcomprising a valve housing body formed with an axially extending steppedcylindrical bore having an upper portion of a diameter smaller than thelower portion thereof; valve rod means mounted in said bore turnableabout the axis thereof and immovable in axial direction, said valve rodmeans having an upper portion of a diameter smaller than that of saidupper bore portion and a lower portion provided with an outer screwthread; sleeve means axially slidably arranged in said bore and having alower closed end and an inner screw thread threadingly engaged with saidouter screw thread of said valve rod means, said sleeve means having anupper cylindrical guide portion guided in said upper bore portion, alower substantially cylindrical portion of a greater diameter than saidupper cylindrical portion of said sleeve means and located in said lowerbore portion, and an upwardly tapering intermediate portion integralwith said upper and lower portions, said upper portion of said valve rodmeans and said valve housing body defining a first chamber above saidsleeve means and the latter defining between its closed end and thelower portion of said valve rod means a second chamber, each of whichbeing adapted to be filled with lubricating means; passage meansproviding communication between said chambers; a first O-ring in saidupper bore portion about said upper portion of said valve rod means; anda second Oring in said upper bore portion and sealingly engaging saidupper cylindrical guide portion of said sleeve means.
 2. A combinationas defined in claim 1, wherein said passage means comprises an axiallyextending notch in said threaded portion of said guide rod means.
 3. Acombination as defined in claim 1, wherein said upper portion of saidguide rod means is provided with a pair of axially spaced radiallyextending shoulders engaging the inner surface of said bore, said firstO-ring being located between said shoulders.
 4. A combination as definedin claim 3, wherein the portion of said bore engaged by said shouldersand the portion thereof engaged by said upper cylindrical guide portionof said sleeve means have the same diameter.
 5. A combination as definedin claim 1, and including a sealing disc mounted on the lower closed endof said sleeve means, and a valve seat axially aligned with said disc,so that the disc may engage or be spaced from said seat during axialmovement of said sleeve means.